Bluestreak's I MES I QMS™ suite of production control and quality management tools have been used successfully by businesses in North America and around the globe since 2005.  Bluestreak™ has undergone continuous development enhancements to stay on the cutting edge of technology so that it continues to work on virtually any computer or mobile device, and can interface with most other software systems that may be deployed.

 

Then, in 2016, Bluestreak™ began working with some of the largest and most progressive Additive Manufacturing prototype production facilities in the world, and development of the Bright AM™ solution began; which is now being used by multiple AM facilities in the U.S. and other countries.    

 

Additive Manufacturing and 3D Printing of parts have their own set of unique requirements for manufacturing execution systems (MES) and quality management systems (QMS), not to mention the critical need to adhere to various specification requirements and guidelines for creating parts in key regulatory-controlled industries.  INTRODUCING Bright AM™.

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Bright AM™ - an innovative and extensible real-time MES/QMS Additive Manufacturing software solution 

• Developed for better manufacturing production control and workflow management

• Provides powerful quality control tools that drive quality management outside the front
  office directly to the production floor

• Has the built-in functionality required by AM, that other MES, QMS, ERP, MRP systems lack

• With quality management tied directly to individual operators on the production floor

• Currently being used by some of the world’s largest Additive Manufacturing (AM) production
  facilities, from order entry all the way through to shipment of completed parts

 

Although there may be some things a company can ‘stop’ doing by adopting AM, there are new
things that the company must ‘start’ doing; so, the business impact must be considered, and
having the right MES I QMS software that is flexible enough to grow with your business while providing the necessary AM functionality is key.  

A few of the Bright AM™ differentiators from traditional manufacturing to AM include… 

• Enhanced management of nonconformance scrap parts;

• Advanced dispositioning and control of 3D-printed parts;

• Extensive serialization functions for multiple parts with different serial numbers printed on the same build plate;

• Advanced build plate ID functions;

• Validation of dynamic part quantities moving on to the next step in processing;

• and the inherent flexibility to track the real-time splitting and combining of parts in the various operation steps within the Work Order to optimize the routing of work on the production floor.  

 

AM companies also need to be able to manage the raw material usage that goes into each part (i.e. some parts require virgin material; others can have 1x or 2x used material or combining 1x with virgin material to print the part, based on its ultimate application and commercial end-use).

Additionally, since many companies have their own captive departments providing various service-based manufacturing solutions such as heat treating, machining, fabricating, powder coating, liquid coatings, plating, and surface finishing, Bluestreak’s MES/QMS™ platform suite is being used in all of these areas and can be set up to function well within any production operating environment.   

 

Focus on Additive Manufacturing Control and Workflow Management

Unlike traditional ERP/MRP systems, Bright AM™ was designed exclusively for additive and service-based manufacturing environments, where the primary focus is real-time processing visibility, production control of each operating step, and integrated quality management. It’s time to stop ‘limping’ along with inadequate production software.

 

For smaller businesses, a full-blown ERP system is both overkill and cost prohibitive, so the Bright AM™ solution is a good fit for these companies.  For larger businesses that already have an ERP system (but still need better production control) Bright AM™ can be deployed as an add-on to other systems and can interface with existing systems to share information and eliminate data redundancy.  Why pay for functionality you don’t need and why re-engineer a solution that wasn’t designed for your business in the first place?

  

Many organizations around the world are working together to coordinate and accelerate the continued development of industry-wide AM standards and specifications that are consistent with a large majority of the AM production control needs, to help facilitate the growth of the AM industry; and Bright AM™ easily handles these specific standards/specifications. 
 

A number of standards-developing organizations are engaged in standards-setting for various aspects of AM in the hopes of maintaining a consistent, well-thought-out, and non-contradictory set of AM standards.  With this type of global activity taking place continually, organizations are going to need their MES/ QMS software providers to give them the capability and functional components they need to have better control, detailed audit trails and documentation, and the ability to ensure compliance with various specifications and adherence to production guidelines attached to each specific part they are manufacturing.  Bright AM™ does this better than any other MES/ QMS solution.